Carmelo Anthony remains the Nuggets' best NBA draft pick after he fell to No. 3 in 2003 for then-GM Kiki Vandeweghe.

The Nuggets have a weird relationship with the NBA draft. In the seven years between 2004-10, Denver drafted and kept only one player: Julius Hodge. That’s one player in seven years Denver got from the draft. Sorta. It doesn’t tell the full story. Here are those years:

So on draft night, the Nuggets over those years netted Ty Lawson, Sonny Weems, Julius Hodge and Linas Kleiza. And, of course, a year earlier in 2003 Denver got a franchise player and a year later in 2011 they got a young keeper (see below for both).

Verdict: “The Phonz” was a better-than-solid player in the mid-90s for the Nuggets. If it wasn’t for some serious injuries, who knows where his career could have gone.

4. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf3rd overall pick in 1990

College: LSU
Stats: 16 points in 439 games with Nuggets; 14.6 career NBA ppg; All-Rookie second team; 1992-93’s most improved player of the year award.

Verdict: Known as Chris Jackson when he was drafted (he later changed his name), Abdul-Rauf was one of the best free-throw shooters of all-time.

3. Antonio McDyess2nd pick overall via trade in 1995 (Nuggets gave the Clippers Rodney Rogers and a pick that became Brent Barry).

College: Alabama
Stats: 18.2 points, 9 rebounds in 361 games with Nuggets; one All-Star team; All-Rookie first team; all-NBA 3rd team; at the time became just the third Nuggets player to average 20 points and 10 rebounds in a season.

Verdict: He could jump out of the building, and if it weren’t for a serious knee injury, he might have been with the Nuggets for life. Instead, he was traded to New York — and he never seemed to forgive the Nuggets for it.

College: Georgetown
Stats: 12.9 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in 391 games with Nuggets; All-Rookie first team 1991; four-time defensive player of the year; eight-time All-Star.

Verdict: Denver fans can still see the big man swatting the ball out of the arena — and they can still see Mutombo holding the ball on his back in Seattle after he led the Nuggets to one of the biggest playoff upsets in NBA history.

1. Carmelo Anthony3rd overall pick in 2003

College: Syracuse
Stats: 24.7 points in 564 games with Nuggets; five-time All-Star, All-Rookie first team; led Nuggets to 2009 Western Conference Finals.

Verdict: ‘Melo brought the Nuggets back to winning ways and although he didn’t have a great ending to his Nuggets career, he is still one of the best to ever lace them up in this town.

FYI: David Thompson, one of the best Nuggets players ever, was drafted by the Virginia Squires of the ABA and the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. But after balking at a deal with the Hawks, he instead later signed with the Nuggets before his rookie season.